The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
30 April 2024
UKRAINE: Two new conscientious objector jail terms
In late March a Lviv Region court sentenced Protestant conscientious objector Serhy Stadnitsky to a 3-year jail term for refusing mobilisation on grounds of conscience. "I don't want to kill people," he told Forum 18, adding that "of course" he would be willing to perform alternative civilian service. Two days later, a Sumy Region court handed a Jehovah's Witness a similar sentence. Both are due to go to prison if their appeals fail. The one known prisoner, Dmytro Zelinsky, awaits a Supreme Court appeal on 13 June.
26 April 2024
UZBEKISTAN: Regime continues repeated arbitrary blocking of registration
Regime officials have repeatedly used a variety of tactics to block state registration applications from Muslim and non-Muslim religious communities. Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, and Protestants have all experienced blocking of registration attempts, and in a Jehovah's Witness case courts have backed the regime's arbitrary use of its power. "The Religion Law gives the authorities unlimited powers to refuse our registration, to our regret," Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18. Unregistered Protestant communities have also come under police and SSS secret police pressure, including attempts to recruit informers.
15 April 2024
RUSSIA: Archbishop fined for criticising Russia's war in Ukraine
A Krasnodar Region court found 87-year-old Archbishop Viktor Pivovarov guilty on 8 April of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces. The judge fined him 8 months' local average pension. Archbishop Viktor has repeatedly condemned Russia's war against Ukraine as "aggressive" and "Satanic". Many parishioners of Holy Intercession Tikhonite Church in Slavyansk "have been scared away by recent events", says a church member. Archbishop Viktor is the fifth person criminally convicted for criticising Russia's war from a religious perspective. Many more have been punished administratively.
12 April 2024
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Deported priests now in Ukraine
In February and March, Russia illegally deported two Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) priests - Fr Khristofor Khrimli and Fr Andri Chui – to Georgia. Both priests were arrested and fined by occupation forces in September 2023, and then illegally taken to Russia. Elsewhere in occupied Ukraine, after an armed raid on the Sunday morning worship meeting of Krasnodon's Council of Churches Baptist congregation, Baptist Pastor and Soviet-era prisoner of conscience Vladimir Rytikov faces illegal Russian charges of "conducting missionary activity".
8 April 2024
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: "Espionage" trial for disappeared Ukrainian Orthodox priest
The Russian occupation forces in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Region disappeared Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) priest Fr Kostiantyn Maksimov in May 2023. On 29 March 2024, more than 10 months later, the occupation forces' Zaporizhzhia Region Prosecutor's Office said a criminal case against him for alleged "espionage" had been handed to court. If convicted, the 40-year-old priest faces a prison term of 10 to 12 years. "This is terrible!" another UOC priest, Fr Vladimir Saviisky, who knew Fr Kostiantyn, told Forum 18. "But this was to be expected."
5 April 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: List of 203 known 2023 administrative prosecutions
The 203 known administrative prosecutions in 2023 for exercising freedom of religion or belief are listed here. More than one third punished individuals for posting religious materials on social media without state permission. A quarter punished individuals for offering religious literature for sale - in shops or online - without state permission. One individual and one charity were prosecuted for having religious books, although this is not an offence. The Information and Social Development Ministry (of which the Religious Affairs Committee is a part) claimed wrongly that there were only 139 such cases in 2023.
4 April 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: 203 known administrative prosecutions in 2023
A third of the 203 known administrative prosecutions in 2023 for exercising freedom of religion or belief punished individuals for religious posts on social media without state permission. Nearly a quarter were punished for offering religious literature for sale - in shops or online - without state permission. One individual and one charity were prosecuted for having religious books, although this is not an offence. The Information and Social Development Ministry (of which the Religious Affairs Committee is a part) claimed wrongly that there were only 139 such cases in 2023.
27 March 2024
KYRGYZSTAN: Two Muslim men jailed for mosque closure protest
On 26 February, Kara-Suu District Court jailed prisoners of conscience Asadullo Madraimov and Mamirzhan Tashmatov for three years and two years respectively for protesting against the regime's closure of their mosque, Al-Sarakhsi Mosque. Some mosques and madrassahs, though not the Al-Sarakhsi Mosque, are known to be still closed. An appeal against the two men's jailing, filed on 27 March, should be heard by the end of May. The two prisoners of conscience remain in Osh's Investigation Prison, where they have been held since 18 October 2023.